mode of ploughing, it may be worth while to show the great difference in the weight of soil turned over in a deep and shallow furrow. If 10 inches are taken as a fair width for a furrow-slice, there will be 18 such slices across a ridge of 15 feet in breadth; and taking 7 inches as a proper depth for such a furrow-slice, a cross section of the slice will have 70 square inches. A cubic foot of earth is thus turned over in every 24.7 inches of length of such a slice; and taking 1:48 as the specific gravity of common earth, (119) the 24.7 inches of slice will weigh 6 stones 8 lb. imperial. If a furrow of only 4 inches in depth is taken; and its breadth should only be 9 inches, the area of the slice will be 36 square inches, and its weight will be

of 6 stones 8 lb., or 3 stones 5 lb., a considerable difference of weight for horses to turn over in the same distance travelled.

plough, where a b is the edge of the land as cut by the preceding furrow; c d the slice in the act of turning over, but from which the plough has been removed; ef, the edge of the land from which the slice cd is being cut; g h, g h the sole of the furrows, and i k l m, slices previously laid up.

A consideration of this figure will also show, that the extension of the slice takes place along the land-side edge e d only, from e to where the backward flexure is given to it when rising on the mouldboard; and where it is again compressed into its original length, by the back parts of the mould-board in being laid down. The slices cil, are laid over at an angle of 45 degrees; and in slices of 7 inches in depth and 10 inches in breadth, the altitude of the triangle at c, i, and , is 5 inches, each of their sides 7.071 inches,

and the sum of the two exposed faces 14-142 inches.

719. Correct ploughing possesses these characteristics: The furrow-slices should be quite straight; for a ploughman that cannot hold a straight furrow is unworthy of his charge. The furrow-slices should be quite parallel in length, and this property shows that they have been turned over of an uniform thickness; for thick and thin slices lying together present irregularly horizontal lines. The furrow-slices should be of the same height, which shows that they have been cut of the same breadth; for slices of different breadths, laid together at whatever angle, present unequal vertical lines. The furrow-slices should present to the eye a similar form of crest and equal surface; because where

one furrow-slice exhibits a narrower surface than it should have, it has been covered with a broader slice than it should be; and where it displays a broader surface than it should have, it is so exposed by a narrower slice than should be upon it. The furrow-slices should have their back and face parallel; and to discover this property after the land has been ploughed requires rather minute examination; but it is easily ascertained at the time of ploughing. The ground, on being ploughed, should feel equally firm under the foot at all places, for slices in a more upright position than they should be, not only feel hard and unsteady, but will allow the seed-corn to fall down between them and become buried. Furrow-slices in too flat a state always yield considerably to the pressure of the foot; and they cover each other too much, affording insufficient mould for the seed. Furrow-slices should lie over at the same angle, 45°, thus presenting crests in the best possible position for the action of the harrows. Crowns of ridges formed by the meeting of opposite furrow-slices, should neither be elevated nor depressed in regard to the rest of the ridge; although ploughmen often commit the error of raising the crowns too high into a crest, the fault being easily committed by not giving the first furrow-slices sufficient room to meet, and thereby pressing them upon one another. The last furrowslice should be uniform with those of the rest of the ridge; but ploughmen are very apt to miscalculate the width of the slices near the sides of the ridges; for if the specific number of furrow-slices into which the whole ridge should be ploughed are too narrow, the last slices of the open furrow will be too broad, and will therefore lie over too flat; and should this too broad space be divided into two furrows, each slice will be too narrow, and stand too upright. When the last furrows are ill made, the open furrow cannot be proportionately ploughed out; because, if the space between the last furrows is too wide, the open furrow must be made too deep to fill up all the space; and, if too narrow, there is not sufficient mould to make the open furrow of the proper size. If the last furrow-slices are laid too flat, the open furrow will throw too much

mould upon the edges next the open furrow,' and thus make them too high. When the last furrows of adjoining ridges are not ploughed alike, one side of the open furrow will require more mould than the other.

720. The usual speed of horses at the plough may be ascertained in this way. A ridge of 5 yards in breadth requires a length of 968 yards to contain an imperial acre; to plough which at 9 bouts, (a bout being a walk along a ridge and back again,) of 10-inch breadth of furrow-slice, counting no stoppages, will make the horses walk 9.9 miles, which in 10 hours gives a speed of 1742 yards per hour; and at 10 bouts of 9-inch furrow-breadth, gives 11 miles of travel to the horses, or 1936 yards per hour. But as ridges are not made of 968 yards in length, and as horses cannot draw a plough that distance without being affected in their wind, and as allowance must be made for time lost in turning at the ends of the ridges, as well as for affording rest to the horses, those speeds will have to be considerably increased to do that quantity of work in the time. By an experiment, which is related by Sir John Sinclair as having been made by a late Earl of Mar, it was found, that 1 hour 19 minutes out of 8 hours are lost by turnings while ploughing an acre on ridges of 274 yards in length, with an 8-inch furrow-slice. Hence, in ploughing an acre on ridges of 250 yards in length, which is the length of ridge I consider. the best for horses in draught, the time lost by turnings, in ploughing 10 hours, with a 10-inch furrow-slice, is 1 hour 22 minutes. I presume that the experiment alluded to does not include the necessary stoppages at times for rest to the horses, but which should be included; for however easy the length of ridge may be for the draught, horses cannot go on walking in the plough for 5 hours together (one) yoking) without taking occasional rests. Now 250 yards of length of ridge give 38 ridges to the acre, or 34 bouts of 10inch furrows; and allowing a rest of one minute in every other bout, 17 minutes will have to be added to the 1 hour 22 minutes lost-that is, 1 hour 39 minutes lost out

*

of every 10 hours, for turnings and rest. Thus 17,424 yards will be ploughed in less than 8 hours, or at the rate of rather more than 1 mile per hour, or nearly 13 miles of walking in ploughing an acre in 8 hours. These results are perhaps near the truth in ploughing lea in spring; they are too little in ploughing red land in summer, and perhaps too much in ploughing stubble land in winter; but, as lea-ploughing is the criterion by which all others are estimated, they may be taken as an approximation to the truth.

time.

Consequently, in the case of the shortest ridge, only 4 hours 49 minutes out of the 10 can be appropriated to ploughing; whereas, in that of the long ridge, 8 hours 32 minutes may be devoted to that purpose. Hence so very short ridges involve great loss of time to plough, and are therefore a decided loss to the farmer. This is a subject worthy of agricultural students to experiment on, in order to ascertain the exact time taken in ploughing and turning and resting on ridges of different lengths, in the different seasons, and in different soils. A watch with a good seconds-hand will be required to mark the time, and the observations should be made, unknown to the ploughmen, when at their usual rate of work; for any one constantly in the presence of the men, will cause more work than usual to be done, less than the usual rests taken, and less time lost.

723. Experiments on this subject were undertaken by a friend of mine in the spring of 1847. The standard of ploughing was taken at 4840 square yards, or 1 acre in 10 hours, on ridges of medium length, including the time consumed in the turnings. In comparing the ploughing of lea on ridges of 329 yards in length with those on 78 yards, it was found that the distance lost in ploughing the latter, in 10 hours was 1680 yards, the equivalent loss of which, in time, is rather more than 58 minutes. But as 329 yards is much longer than a medium length of 250 yards, and as the former actually incurred in ploughing a loss in time of 58 minutes, it follows that the entire loss of time incurred in ploughing an acre of ridges of 78 yards in length was 1 hour 45 minutes out of the 10 hours. This is a very different result from that obtained by the experiments of the Earl of Mar, related above.

No. 1 ridges were on a steep hill, with thin clay soil resting on a tilly subsoil. The ridges on Nos. 3 and 5 were of the same clay soil, the upper part resting on till, the lower part on a light gravel. The results are too variable and contradictory to be depended on; but the subject is worthy of farther investigation and experiment, on ridges of various lengths, and on soils of different consistency.

725. When horses are driven in the plough beyond their step, they draw very unequally together, and, of course, the plough is held unsteadily. In that case, the plough has a tendency to take too much land; to obviate which the ploughman leans the plough over to the left, in which position it raises a thin broad furrow-slice, and lays it over at too low an angle. On the other hand, when the ploughman allows the horses to move at too slow a pace, he is apt to forget what he is about, and the furrow-slices will then, most probably, be made too narrow and too shallow; and though they may be laid over at the proper angle, and the work appear externally well enough executed, there will be a deficiency of mould in the ploughed soil.

726. There is another circumstance which greatly affects the speed of horses at work on some farms, I mean the great steepness of the ground; and it is not unusual to see the ridges traversing such steeps straight up and down. Ridges in such a position are laborious to plough, to cart upon, to manure, and for every operation connected with farming. The water runs down the furrows when the land is under the plough, and carries to the bottom of the declivity the finest portion of the soil. In such a position a ridge of 250 yards is much too long to plough without a breathing to the horses. Although the general rule of making the ridges run N. and S. is the correct one, in such a situation as a steep acclivity, they should be made to slope along the face of the hill, instead of running up and down the acclivity; and the slope will not only be easier to labour in every respect, but the soil will be saved being washed so much away in the furrows; but the direction of the slope should not be made at random, it should fall away to the right hand in

looking up the acclivity, because then the plough will lay the furrow-slice down the hill when it is in the act of climbing the steep, and on coming down the hill the horses will be the better able to lay the slice up against the inclination of the ground. What the exact length of the ridges on such an acclivity ought to be, even with the assistance of the slope, I cannot say, but should imagine that 100 or 150 yards would be sufficient for the horses; but, at all events, there is no doubt it would be much better for the labour of the farm, as well as the soil, to have 2 fields 100 yards long each, one higher up the slope than the other, than the whole ground in one field of 200 yards in length.

727. Ploughing matches.-This seems to me a fitting place to say a few words on ploughing matches. I believe it admits of no doubt that, since the institution of ploughing matches throughout the country, the character of our farm-servants, as ploughmen, has risen to considerable celebrity; not but that individual ploughmen could have been found before the practice of matches existed as dexterous as any of the present day, but the general existence of good ploughing must be obvious to every one who is in the habit of observing the arable condition of the country. This improvement is not to be ascribed to the institution of ploughing matches alone, because superior construction of implements, better kept, better matched, and a superior race of horses, and superior judgment and taste in field labour in the farmer himself, are too important elements in influencing the conduct of ploughmen, to be overlooked in the consideration of this question.

728. But be the primary motive for improvement in the most important branch of field labour as it may, doubtless a properly regulated emulation amongst workmen of any class, proves a strong incentive to the execution of superior workmanship; and the more generally the inducement is extended, the more generally the improvement arising from it may be expected to be diffused; and on this account the plough medals of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, being open in competition to all

parts of Scotland every year, have perhaps excited a spirit of emulation among ploughmen, as a reward to those who excel, beyond any thing to be seen in any other country. Wherever 15 ploughs can be gathered together for competition at any time and place, there the ploughman who obtains the first premium offered by those interested in the exhibition, is entitled to receive, over and above, the Society's silver plough medal, bearing a suitable inscription, with the gainer's name engraved upon it. About 60 applications are made for the medals every year, so that at least 900 ploughmen annually compete for them; but the actual number far exceeds that number, as, in many instances, matches comprehend from 40 to 70 ploughs, instead of the minimum number of 15. Besides stated competitions, such matches are occasioned by the welcome which neighbours are desirous of giving an incoming tenant to his farm, and its heartiness is shown in the extent of the ploughing given him before he has collected a working stock sufficient for the pur

pose.

729. Ploughing-matches are generally very fairly conducted in Scotland. They usually take place on lea ground, the ploughing of which is considered the best test of a ploughman's skill, though I hold drilling to be much more difficult of correct execution. The best part of the field is usually selected for the purpose, if there be such, and the same extent of ground, usually from 2 to 4 ridges, according to the length, is allotted to each portion of the ground to be ploughed. A pin, bearing a number, is pushed into the ground at the end of each lot, of which as many are marked off as ploughs are entered in competition. Numbers, on slips of paper corresponding to those on the pins, are drawn by the competing ploughmen, who each takes possession of the lot he has drawn. Ample time is allowed to finish the ploughing of the lot, and in this part of the arrangements, I think too much time is allowed, to the wearisome annoyance of the spectators. Although quickness of time in executing the same extent of work is not to be compared to excellency of execution, it should enter as an important element in deciding the question of skill. Every competitor is obliged to feer his own

lot, guide his own horses, and do every other thing connected with the work, such as assorting his horses and trimming his plough-irons, without any assistance.

730. The judges, who have been brought from a distance, and have no personal interest in the exhibition, are requested to inspect the ground after all the ploughs have been removed, having been kept away from the scene during the time the ploughs were engaged. This appears to me an objectionable part of the arrangements, which is made on the plea that, were the judges to see the ploughs at work, some particular ones might be recognised by them as belonging to friends, and their minds might thereby be biased in their favour. Such a plea pays a poor compliment to the integrity of a judge; and any farmer who accepts that responsible and honoured office, and would allow himself to be influenced by so pitiful a consideration, would deserve not only to be rejected on any such occasion, but scouted out of society. One consequence of the exaction of this rule is, loss of patience by the spectators, while the judges are occupying no more than the necessary time for deciding the ploughing of, it may be, a large extent of ground. The judges ought, therefore, to be present all the time of the competition, when they could find leisure calmly and minutely to ascertain the position and depth of the furrow-slices, and mature their thoughts on points which may modify first impressions. That the bare inspection of the finished surface cannot furnish satisfactory information as to the land having been correctly ploughed, but which must be obtained by comparing the soles of the furrows while the land is ploughing, I shall endeavour to show.

731. It has been seen (702) that the East Lothian plough lays over a slice of a rectangular form, and the Lanarkshire one of a trapezoidal form, and that the high-crest form of slice, and serrated furrow-sole, contain one-seventh less earth than the other. Now, were the surfacework only to be judged of, which must be the case when judges are prohibited seeing the work done in the course of execution, the serrated extent of the furrow-sole cannot so well be ascertained by removing portions of the ploughed ground here and